TRUE CRIME THREATS

Investigating a case as a possible true crime
book does not consist of throwing together old newspaper reports, and
making copies of trial transcripts. It involves painstaking research.
At times, it can be downright dangerous.

As our publishers don’t
give us a research budget, all costs come out of our own pockets.
Anytime we can get documents, transcripts, and other materials for
free, we jump at the chance. I was thrilled when a contact just
happened to have complete trial transcripts, plus private
correspondence between the defendant and her attorney, including
letters from two eye-witenesses to the murder in which both of them
recanted their testimony — there was mounting proof that the "guilty
murderer" was not even at the scene of the crime. . My contact,
however, was under surveilence by the police because he was a forty
year old black man married to a twenty year old white woman — not an
actual crime, but in that particular town, it was grounds for
harrasment. . When one particular officer saw me visiting this person,
the cop freaked out, came to my home and threatened me. Why? Because
he was involved in some very shady deals himself, one of which had
impacted the life of my contact, and mistakenly thought that I was in
the process of exposing his misdeeds. In truth, I didn’t even know of
his involvement in unpleasant matters until he tipped his hand. As it
turned out, he was later exposed by a citizen who videotaped him in the
act of "misconduct.," and the imprisoned person was freed (after twenty
years of incarceration) by the Governor. I never wrote a book about
this case — too much time had passed, and innocent people being sent
to prison in the USA is sadly not unusual. .If you want to know
what journalistic investigation of corruption is often really like —
to the extreme — get the film "Edison Force" starring Morgan Freeman
and Kevin Spacey. Excellent movie, and not far fetched. Really, there
is something about having a big beefy man with a gun come to your home
that tends to intimidate you.